Yong'an
25°58'00"N 117°22'00"E
Yongan and Nanping in Fujian province are missile firing positions that were used when the People's Liberation Army (PLA) fired DF-15 / M-9 [CSS-6] missiles into the sea off Taiwan during the 1996 Taiwan Strait Crisis. Yongan and Nanping have direct railway links with the headquarters of the 815th ballistic missile brigade of the PLA in Jiangxi Province's Leping, and three to four hours would be required to transport missiles from Leping to Yongan via railway.
China has reportedly constructed a pair of missile bases to support deployment of the medium range DF-11 / M-11 [CSS-7 Mod 2 ] ballistic missile with a range of nearly 500 kilometers [ about 300 miles]. The existence of these two bases was publicly disclosed in late 1999. One base is at Yong'an [not Yangang, as initially reported], some 350 kilometers [220 miles] from Taiwan, while the Xianyou missile complex is about 220 kilometers [135 miles] from Taiwan. As of late 1999 the second base at Xianyou was nearly complete. The arrangement of these new bases generally resembles the facility at Leping, which is the base for a brigade of DF-15 / M-9 [CSS-6] mobile missiles. Each facility, with tunnels to store the missiles, will support a brigade-size force with 16 truck launchers and 97 CSS-7 mobile missiles.
Photographic Evaluation Report
High resolution imagery is available from declassified CORONA imagery for negation. As of 01 May 2000 Russian 2-meter resolution KVR-1000 imagery coverage was not available via the SPIN-2 service on TerraServer. Archival Space Imaging IKONOS 1-meter imagery available on the CARTERRA™ Archive includes a total of eight scenes, acquired between 19 February 2000 and 22 April 2000. Of these, eight are almost completely cloud-covered. The remaining pair of scenes, acquired on 04 March 2000, is apparently centered on this facility, but further change extraction evaluation is needed fo confirmation.
Sources and Resources
- MND plays down missile site report The Taipei Times December 1st, 1999 -- The defense ministry has clarified media speculation, saying China is just building up its arsenal, not constructing new missile sites. Yongan and Nanping have direct railway links with the headquarters of the 815th ballistic missile brigade of the PLA in Jiangxi Province's Leping . It takes just three to four hours to transport missiles from Leping to Yongan via railway.
- Mainland reportedly sites missiles in southeast Taiwan News December 1, 1999 -- China's southeastern Fujian province, rather than the southwestern Sichuan and central Shaanxi provinces, is the launch site of the mainland's newest short range ballistic missiles. The estimate contrasted earlier speculation by the Washington Times that mainland China has deployed the M-11 missiles in Sichuan and Shaanxi.
- China Targets Taiwan With 2nd Missile Base By Bill Gertz Washington Times December 8, 1999 Page 1 -- The Defense Intelligence Agency has discovered a second Chinese short-range missile base under construction near Taiwan that will significantly increase the threat against the island.
- China Points More Missiles At Taiwan By Bill Gertz, The Washington Times November 23, 1999 -- Construction at the People's Liberation Army (PLA) missile base at Yangang, is being carried out for the planned deployment of a brigade of advanced CSS-7 missiles -- also known as advanced M-11s. A Chinese missile brigade is estimated to have 16 launchers and up to 96 missiles.
http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/china/facility/yongan.htm
Maintained by Robert Sherman
Originally created by John Pike
Updated Friday, May 12, 2000 12:00:01 AM
